Weekend Grub: Cafe Liquiteria's monster shakes live up to their name

I don't usually cheat with a dessert but when I do, it needs to be worth it.

Yes, that's right. Despite my unhealthy relationship with food (some may call it mad love even), I don't have the biggest sweet tooth. I have occasional cravings but at other times, I prefer sharing dessert... Anyone? No? Moving on.

Last time I had a craving for meetha. I wanted something big on flavour and looking like it came out of Pinterest. I thought to myself, 'Maybe I'll go grab a pretty sundae,' and decided to hunt for something beautiful.

Cafe Liquiteria got my attention with their 'monster shakes.'

Having seen many videos and pictures of monster shakes online, I was excited that something like this was coming to Karachi. Even though I don't have the biggest sweet tooth, I knew I had to get my hands on it.

Cafe Liquiteria hadn't launched yet but clearly owners Sayyam Abdul Razzak and Murtaza Feroz could hear the desperation in my voice and let me visit them.

Where to go

Cafe Liquiteria is located at Al-Rehman Tower, Shaheed-E-Millat Road. It's an adorable little place but easy to spot.

When to go

I was invited to visit before the cafe formally opened and was quite surprised to see a bustling crowd of customers at the premises.

I was confused. Didn't they tell me they hadn't opened yet? Were the others also invited for a preview?

"Actually, a lot of people just show up at the door and we can't refuse them," said Sayyam, adding that "People have been coming for a number of days now even though we've made our launch date very clear. It's really cool that they want our product so bad but it makes us nervous about what they expect from us."

Cafe Liquiteria has now opened its doors and serves customers from 3pm till 12am.

What to order

Bring on the monster shakes!

The cafe currently serves five monster shakes: Brownie Monster, Chocolate Lava, Creamy Strawberry Doughnut, Nutella Mix Doughnut and Cookie Freaky.

I wanted to try their best flavours, so I asked the owners to recommend what I should order. They sent the Brownie Monster and Creamy Strawberry Doughnut.

I was served the brownie one first and here is accurate representation of what was going in my mind before and after the arrival of the shake (I can guarantee you'll know when it showed): "Oh man, I can't wait to try it, it looked so good. I don't wanna share it with anyone, I'm gonna eat so much...... Wait... What? Oh dear what is that. How the heck do you eat that? Wait you drink that. What have I gotten myself into?!"

That's right, it was huge. The shake was as big as my face! I checked! The brownie was fudgey and the cream was full of M&Ms, so you know I had to eat that. The shake itself was THICK. "That's because of the brownies," said a smiling Murtaza. He revealed there are brownies (note, not a single brownie, but brownies) blended into the shake.

One thing I liked was that the shake was not overly sweet. You'd think a shake like that would taste of sugar. It tasted of chocolate. However, I did wish that the actual brownie topping the shake would've been piping hot, so as to contrast with the shake and help with the amount of sweetness that was present. When a dessert is hot, the flavour is stronger compared to the sweetness.

Murtaza and Sayyam had the same answer when I asked them which shake they were most proud of. The strawberry one. So we decided to try that, even though we were full. Gluttony.

I was caught by surprise by the strawberry shake. The generous amount of strawberries topping the shake and the taste of natural strawberries in the shake itself was impressive. You know exactly why I have to say that, what with most strawberry shakes on the market having two strawberries in them with syrup to sweeten it up.

In fact, see that syrup drizzled on top for show and taste? They make that themselves too. An average of twenty strawberries are used in one shake. Yeah. Let that sink in.

I immediately understood why the two recommended it. It was lighter than the brownie and cost less too, which had me staring at them waiting for them to say 'Psyche!'

Cafe Liquiteria has some other fancy goodies including chocolate sizzlers, lollipops and mocktails. But it's clear that these monster shakes are going to be the talk of the town. Also, by the time I was done with those monsters (I can say that okay?), I was in a weird place where I was going to pass out in a food coma but also hopped up on sugar. These are the real problems in life, man.

Damage on the pocket

The brownie shake is Rs445, which may seem like a lot but when you see the monster, you'll realise it's worth every penny. The strawberry shake is Rs375, which if you ask me is a steal. An average shake or small dessert costs the same and here you get thrice as much for the price!

Despite my aversion to desserts, I see myself going to Cafe Liquiteria again. Just, maybe, with some friends to help me finish it all.